Bochy on Lincecum: “Like everybody in this game, you’re going to have your hiccups”

Bruce Bochy and Tim Lincecum met this morning, a day after Lincecum’s third straight non-great outing last night.

Makes sense, since Lincecum is only the most important player in the franchise, by a scale of about 100.

The result? Lincecum didn’t talk before the game–though he looked fine walking through the clubhouse afterwards–but Bochy said he just wanted to check on his star pitcher and said that Lincecum’s fine.

Maybe putting a little too much pressure on himself given his super-high standards, but overall, fine.

The transcript from Bochy’s pre-game gaggle… mostly on Lincecum, and a little on Buster Posey at the end…

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—-BRUCE BOCHY, pre-game gaggle/

-Q: You’ve had a night and this morning since Lincecum’s outing last night. Everything check out physically? Is there anything wrong at all?

-BOCHY: No, no. I talked to Timmy. Basically, he’s fine.

Like everybody in this game you’re going to have your hiccups. And Timmy, he’s a little hard on himself, I think, at times. A little frustrated.

This guy has set the bar so high that he’s tough on himself when he doesn’t pitch like he’s accustomed to.

But basically he’s fine. He’s going through a couple tough starts like all great pitchers do.

-Q: You mentioned him not checking the baserunners last night when his concentrate broke a little bit. Has that been an issue before?

-BOCHY: I think at times… he can be a little slow to the plate. He knows it. But … he also has the ability to do a good job of holding onto runners, vary his looks, sidestep and things like that.

That got away from him. Got a little out of focus I think with runners on. That’s going to happen at times and as a pitcher, you learn from it. That’s an area that he wants to improve on because if you don’t, then you’ll keep doing what you did.

-Q: Don’t know what the stadium gun had him at, but the TV gun last night had him at 87 at least one with his fastball. Is dropping fastball velocity a concern this year?

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-BOCHY: There were times when he was working on his command out there, so he was trying to get the ball where he wanted it instead of letting it go.

I think overall the guns in general are a little slower than what they’ve been in the past.

Timmy, he’s got plenty of fastball. He was at 92 there… that’s kind of been his comfort, 91-92, which is a good fastball.

What you don’t want to do is get caught in velocity, where you’re trying to add, and you lose command. I certainly don’t want him doing that.

-Q: Will he be actually working on holding runners between starts or is that just something you want to think about when he pitches?

-BOCHY: It’s something to focus on. He can do it. He’s done it.. It hasn’t happened a lot with Timmy.

[CUT]

-Q: What did you want to talk to Lincecum about today–was it to make sure he was physically OK or was it to talk about the things we’re talking about now?

-BOCHY: We talked about a lot of things. I don’t want to go too much into it. That’s part of it.

When things aren’t going so well for a player, there’s times as a manager you do want to talk to the player, to see where they’re at.

-Q: So much is expected him…

-BOCHY: That’s part of it. I think Timmy does, too. That’s what’s tough for some of these players, especially great players. The bar does get set so high. You expect too much out of yourselves or fans in general or us. Puts a little added pressure on the player, and that’s what you want to stay away from.

Go out there, you try to do the best you can. That’s all you can do. Certainly don’t want Timmy to put any added pressure on himself.

He’s had a great year. We’re talking about a couple starts here. I mean, come on.

-Q: Do you think the way the team has hit lately has maybe gotten Lincecum to put more pressure on himself to be perfect?

-BOCHY: I don’t think so. I don’t. I think Timmy went out to win a ballgame.

Some of us–myself–were average players. We’re used to dealing with, you know… tough outings or at-bats, things like that. But you set the bar so high… it’s a little tougher for him, I think.

-Q: Do you think there’s anything physical or mechanical contributing to Lincecum’s last few starts?

Tim Kawakami

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What’s worse? Warriors and the expected incompetence in how the organization is ran or the Giants and their satisfaction of mediocrity. Even though they have had some of the greatest talents in baseball, they still refuse to make a real effort to put a championship team out there. If they spent an extra $10 million on some bats the last decade and a half, I’m sure the Giants would have gone to the playoffs 2-3 more times and possible have a title.

It’s sad to say, but I think the Warriors and that screwed up roster may have more hope at making it to the playoffs than the Giants.

The Wisdom Cow

Any chance we can learn which reporters asked what questions, TK.

Also, Baggs wrote “Physically, he’s fine.” I am betting it was a misread of your transcript. A variation of a Freudian slip – Baggs must be on the Giants payroll.

cynic

The Braves should have kept Jason Heyward in the minors too. As a 20 yr ball player, he clearly needed more time to prepare for the majors.

The Gambler

“You have a tendency when you’re having trouble scoring runs to make changes, but right now we don’t think it’s the time.”

What a gem, that Boach. The definition of insanity is…

The Wisdom Cow

Gambler, and yet how many different lineups has he used? lol. Bochy is so full of crap.

fumblin’ frank

Fitz and Brooks say, “Everyone relax! The Giants will be fine!” Just like Fitz re-assures us that the Warriors will make the playoffs and Brooks says that Alex Smith will be a pro-bowler….

Stan…

KNBR hints he’s a heavy pot user-and this his concentration on game days isnt what it should be.
Me? I think if the bullpen had done its job Lincecum would be 8-1 instead of “Only 5-1″.

Shindigity

tk,

should have asked him if posey would be rotting on the bench when he comes up, given bochy’s distaste for young players, esp young catchers.

barfighter

Numb 7, keep innuendo in your weak and mind not on these blogs. Stupid idiiiiot !

hibcbcbc

TK,

Cmon. You are bringing weak stuff here. The big story is why the hell is Sabean still employed. Look at his track record the last 7 years TK and tell me how he still has a job? This is equivalent to if the Niners still had Terry Donahue as their GM. This is a long period of professional incompetence TK and it’s time to dig in and get to the bottom of it.

All I hear is complaining about Bochy and Sabean. What about ownership, who puts the reins on the payroll? Or what about Alou and the magnificent job he did for 3 years, driving talent out of the team, throwing pitchers until their arms basically fell off, and just plain managing poorly? 100 wins and out in the wildcard round? Hello? As for Posey, he’s not ready. .343 in the minors is about .200 in the majors. Is that what we need? Another .200 hitter?